Central Govt is targeting me politically; BJP targets Nobel laureates, wants to break backbone of Bengal: Mamata

Birbhum (West Bengal) [India], December 28 (ANI): Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the BJP-led central government is targetting Nobel laureates like Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee for narrow politics.
Addressing the media in Bolpur, the chief minister said, "I have been targeted politically. I do not mind that. Our educationists are being targeted and now they are feeling isolated. Nobel laureates like Amartya Sen or Abhijit Banerjee hold a different place in society. In all these years, they did not say anything on Netaji. Now they are vocal about him."
As per news reports on Thursday, Visva Bharati has written to the state government alleging that dozens of its plots have been recorded wrongly and that the list of unauthorised occupants includes eminent economist Amartya Sen.
Mamta accused BJP of impairing the sagacity of Visva-Bharati University citing the examples of Pondicherry University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Nalanda University.
"BJP wants to shatter the ethos of Bengal. They want to break the backbone and self-esteem of Bengal. They are trying to alter history and geography with their own school of thoughts," she added.
"They (BJP) want to torch Bengal through riots. BJP is trying to break universities and educational institutions like JNU. Bengal is being maligned. Gandhiji had come to Beliaghata to bring peace during the riots then," she said.
When asked about the debate of outsiders versus Bengal, Banerjee clarified, "Be it Bengal, India or the world as a whole, anybody can move to anywhere. There is no debate on that. Here outsiders refer to a particular ideology that BJP endures. The spirits and culture of India are far different from the conviction of BJP. Their ideology is foreign to Indian traditions."
On the farmers' agitation issue, West Bengal chief minister said that the Trinamool Congress is with the farmers. "The three draconian and black agriculture laws must be withdrawn," demanded Banerjee. (ANI)